Anyone who is over-the-phone interpreter and has parrots?

[Jonnf]

Hi everyone!

Id like to open up a conversation with lovely peeps who work from home under 'silence' or noise controlled environments?

I am an over-the-phone interpreter and live in a small studio with my male and female cockatiels. female isn't a problem, she's extremely quiet and mellow and often works with me in the room, she's an older female, my boy is a different story... he's much younger noisy and I have adapted my bathroom next door with hanging perches and play stands for him galore, while I work in the main space... He remains quiet and playful in there, and I come visit him often for some minutes at a time while im in idle time. and that seems to work for now...

I won't deny that I have been haunted by some anxiety over their noise levels and my job's requirements to keep a noise-free environment... but we all know the perks of working from home!

Has anyone experienced complains or called their attention due to mild background noises coming from their birds? Maybe those owners of cockatiels might be able to but in we are more used to their noise levels?

I wish for exciting stories to share here! This topic isn't talked much at all in these communities and probably we will be helping countless others to soothe their worries and anxieties over keeping their feathered friends or not -just as I was before. Let's share in what ways can someone with a small space AND a bird be ok side to side, or even 'how much is too much in order to cause a complaint from supervisors or clients we work for over the phone...

 

[Elysian]

When the pandemic first pushed us home I only had my budgies.
I worked call center/technical support and I never had a customer *complain*. Once in awhile they would comment on a chirping fit, but usually said it sounded nice.

However, my boss at the time did NOT like it. I don't know why he seemed more sensitive but sometimes in meetings he would get upset and say "Is that what it sounds like when you are taking calls?!"

Now I have the bigger birds and two dogs, still work from home and don't answer phones but do a ton of internal and client facing meetings. Funny enough every time I cringe and apologize for Oggie giving a screech, they say they didn't even hear it.

So it's anecdotal but in my experience I guess small chattery bird noises are actually more noticable

 

[Jonnf]

Thank you for that amazing story!
This is exactly what I intend for people to share, the more situations, the better and the reason is, I faced rehoming my 4 budgies and I almost gave away my cockatiels without even the first complain, all out of fear to 'possibly' be called out for some occasional screech here and there.

Your anecdote is an example of tolerance by other people -aka our bosses or clients- and how far can it go against the parrot owner when we work over the phone taking calls from home. I have never been called out or threatened to loose my job due to my birds, and its all because they cannot hear them, sometimes I wonder if I should run a trial for a couple days, operating with my cockatiels with me, and see if it brings any trouble... risky? adventurous? daring? DUMB?! Maybe all the above LOL!

 

[Shezbug]

I am almost certain there are ways (like apps/software) to cancel background noise on many phones, maybe that is something you could look into as a backup plan.

 

[Birdie Mama]

You might be able to do a test with friends. Have them call you and treat as a real client call, but record it. This way you could listen and see just how loud your boy actually is. Try it during a time you know he tends to chatter a lot. You may be imagining the noise level higher than you think, especially if they are in the other room. Also what about a white noise machine or a fan close to where you are working, may drown out or overshadow any noise they may make…

 

[Jonnf]

Yes! I have a superb headset I can recommend to yall and thats the Jabra, they dont pay me for this, but ive tried so many and thats the only one that can truly make a bird that's a few feet away from me seem like far away on the outside of the house. I'm sure there's other quality equipment out there that works as fine if not better!